His Final Days
by AkibaSilver
Summary: As the Eighth Doctor watches the Time War unfold around him. an old friend convinces him to take action. But what costs will that have, both for him and his friend?
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor looked out from his TARDIS door and sighed, his eyes stung with small amounts of tears. Far below him, there was a planet that could not be seen. It could only be glimpsed between the whizzing Dalek saucers and Battle TARDISs vworping in and out of existence. The Time War was being waged heavily on the planet beneath him, and, from his unique position as an observer, he could see all of it. His TARDIS in temporal orbit looped to the start of the fight, around ten minutes ago. It was unfolding differently now, he noticed. There were more saucers, equipped with different weapons, but the TARDIS were also different. That was the problem with a Time War- it didn't just happen only once. With races that could change the past, it could just happen again and again. And with the Daleks and the Time Lords, possibly the most time adept races in the universe, fighting each other across history, it could last for infinity, from the Big Bang to the end of the universe. It probably would. Nowhere would be safe…

"What's happening?" He turned back towards Ace. He smiled a small, insincere smile and tries to explain. "You know the Daleks? Evil blobs with death rays?"

"Yes. They were after the Hand of Omega? Is that what this is about?"

"Kind of, Ace. They've declared war on the Time Lords because of… me, mostly. They want them dead, so they can rule over time. And they're destroying that planet over there because they think that the Time Lords had a base there. They didn't, but that hasn't stopped them from trying to massacre the planet. It has such a future though. A peaceful empire across three star systems, turning into one of the greatest civilisations the universe would ever know, crossing half a galaxy, and it could be gone because of a bunch of tin pots with big ideas, and a civilisation that always leave it too late to interfere."

He stared at Ace. She'd probably have been another casualty of this horrible war if it wasn't for him. He'd been scanning space in the aftermath of a battle, looking for survivors when he'd come across a DNA signature he recognised. He'd materialised his TARDIS around it, and found Ace, riding on a vortex scooter.

"More to the point, Professor, why aren't you stopping it?"

He stopped his flashbacks and turned to look at his companion, who was giving him an accusational look. "What do you mean, Ace? What can I do?" He started talking quickly, panicking. He didn't want to think about this, but Ace was forcing him to.

"Simple. I know you. You'll have some plan that will beat the Daleks and stop the war!"

"Ace…" He sighed, understanding the confusion. "That was the old me. You've known me for about two weeks now. That's not how I work. And I couldn't have a plan to take care of this. It's too complex."

"Can't you think of anything? Not one plan?" She was looking at him, with hope in her face now, but it was masking a real face of doubt. He knew what she was thinking- why wasn't he helping?

"There's only one thing I could do, but…"

"Then why don't you do it?"

"Because it's dangerous, and it's against all my principles. It would involve genocide- mass genocide- against the Daleks!"

"But, if they're this dangerous, why don't you do it? You were talking about how many people have died- would you let them all die just to protect your precious morals!" She was shouting at him, not understanding why he would just sit back and let the war rage on.

He sighed, and looked down at his feet. "Ace…" He turned away and looked over to the doors and opened them. There was now nothing out there, but a few burning, wheeling Battle TARDIS's, and a few small, floating rocks. It was gone. But… they had lost. They were meant to protect the planet.

He closed the door, and turned back to Ace. He strode towards the console and starting putting his Time Machine into motion. That was enough.

"Professor… what are you doing?"

"Ace, you're right. I'm being a coward by not doing this. And I'm never cruel or cowardly. Now, I just have to know? Are you with me?"

"Yes. All the way!" She hugged him, and he hugged her back.

He looked at her, and smiled another sad smile. "I'm sorry, but that can't work." He stopped the TARDIS as Ace stood there, bewildered. "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous. I'd give my own life to stop this war, but not yours. That's where I draw the line. Too many of my friends have died travelling with me, people who mean a lot to me. I don't want you being one of them."

He flicked a large switch on his console, and the doors popped open. She could see a café out of them, and a street with people. She hadn't seen those for months. "I won't die for you. I don't plan on dying at all. But there's one thing that's definitely going to happen- I'm going with you. I'm not leaving you to get killed, Professor. And you will be if I'm not there." She stood with her hands on her hips. He knew that she was dangerous- he had seen her take on a Dalek before. And he knew she was right. If she wasn't there, he'd probably die. That had happened last time…

"Fine. You can stay. I just have to make one more call…"

* * *

><p>So, for anyone who cares, this is an origin story for my own parallel universe Doctor so I can write stories for him. He's based off the Rowan Atkinson Doctor from The Curse of Fatal Death, which you need to watch if you haven't already, because it's brilliant, but at a much earlier point in his timeline. But first, I need to take care of the Eighth Doctor, which is a shame, him being my favorite. I'm still learning to write for him, though, so it may seem a bit off, so sorry for that. And Ace is here, based on a future for her from the books, I believe. Go check out the Wiki for more information- basically, she becomes a Time Agent on a Space Motorcycle. Yes, it's awesome, but it means I'll have to make some decisions where to take canon from. This is going to be confusing. More on that soon. As always, review and tell your friends!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The TARDIS floated through an empty expanse of space, shielded from detection by its ancient age, and the fact that the Daleks were distracted. Their main fleet was engaged by the Time Lords main group of Battle TARDIS's, and it was a fierce fight, but the point wasn't for them to destroy the fleet. The point was to draw the battle out. That was his job.

He watched the battle with a resigned expression. It had been hard getting hold of Lady President Romana to organise this, but he was one of about 3 people who knew how to contact her, and one of two that could convince her to do something like this. He really hoped her trust was well founded- they hadn't really talked since that Anti-Time incident. Of course, he hadn't had to do it. He could have gone back. He could've changed his mind. But Ace was there. And he owed it to her to be strong. She was right, of course. It wasn't like him to let a war rage on- to let people die- like this. He set his TARDIS into the first phase of its flight and went into action.

"Ace, how's it going?" Ace was sat on the floor, a mess of wires linking the console of the Gallifreyan Space-Time machine to her primitive space bike. "What's your plan here, professor?" She asked, cautiously, as if she didn't trust him. She probably didn't, he thought. He did look and act completely different. She probably still expected him to use her as a pawn, but he was past that. He hoped.

"Simple. This machine of yours is a simple construct, but, if we wire it up correctly, the TARDIS can use it as a shield. We're safe here, but where we're going, we'll need something much more protective." He moved Ace out of the way and checked the wires himself. They were all connected perfectly. He moved to his feet and set the controls to guide the TARDIS to where it needed to go. This was not going to go well, and he knew it.

"Wait, where are we going?" Ace scrambled to her feet and angrily looked at him. He pretended to ignore her, but he knew it wouldn't work. "Tell me!" He looked at her calmly, but he knew this wasn't going to go well.

"We're flying to the Dalek ship."

"But they'll kill us! Shoot us out of space!"

"No, Ace, you misunderstand. I don't mean flying into battle. I mean we're going to materialise on the Dalek ship."

"So we're landing on a fully armed Dalek ship. As much as I trust you, that's still a death wish. And what about the fleet? If they blow up the ship we're on, won't we die anyway?"

"Simple. The fleet exists as a distraction. They aren't to seriously engage the Dalek ships- they're much too defended for that. Instead, they have to distract the Dalek's energy so we can sneak into their engine rooms. No Daleks ever go there- it would cost valuable corridor space to let them down there. We sit there, then we…" He gulped. He was going to regret saying this. Once he said it, there was definitely, finally, no going back. "We do something. Something that will take them out for good."

"We kill them." Ace inquired, an eyebrow raised. Of course- she always put it bluntly.

"Yes. Now, if you want to be there to kill them, I suggest you hold on. The shields will be weakened, but this is still going to be rough."

Ace grabbed the central console as the Doctor started phase 2 of his plan. He pulled hard on a lever, and the TARDIS shuddered. The living ship pushed hard against to land on the remote area of the Dalek ship, but it was difficult, near impossible, like a person pushing through custard. She started burning rooms to give her more energy, so she could push through the shield. It wasn't enough though. She started burning more and more, more than she ever should. She was in pain, and she felt like she was literally burning. This wasn't going well.

It turned out the TARDIS could feel what was happening inside her. The console room's walls were burning up, with parts exploding, revealing a blank white wall behind it. The grand ceiling was starting to crack, and one of the surrounding pillars exploded in a spray of metallic shards. The Doctor and Ace ducked, but neither of them were hit. Their skin was starting to blister from the heat. The Doctor looked at his screen- 70% of the TARDIS had been burned up for energy. He knew the shields were too powerful for a fully equipped battle TARDIS to try and materialise, but he had hoped his small, ancient, rusty TARDIS would be subtle enough to sneak through. He had failed though. He and Ace would burn here. He had failed his companion, his friends that would fall to the Daleks when they beat the Time Lords he failed…

The TARDIS was struggling as hard as she could. She wouldn't make it. 'Oh well. At least I saw some of the universe'. She was remarkably calm about dying, she noted. Or had she already died? Tenses were confus- Whoa!

She slipped through the edge of the custard shield and landed on her feet. She was alive. Tired, empty and still on fire, but alive!

In the console room, or rather, what was left of it, the Doctor and Ace fell to their feet as the TARDIS landed with a huge jolt. They looked at the screen in shock. It said 95% of the TARDIS had been burned up as fuel. "I didn't think it would use that much," The Doctor mumbled in shock.

"Professor, can we please go outside. It's too hot in here." Ace was panting from the heat.

The Doctor nodded, flicking a switch on the blackened console. Water started raining from the ceiling, and the fires slowly flickered out. The whole room was covered in soot.

"Let's go." The duo walked to the front door and it swung open. The stepped out of the doors into a blank metal room. It wasn't very large, and it had no doors leading to it. What it did have, however, was a window that looked onto ta large revolving mass of red energy.

"Those are the main engines." The Doctor hugged Ace, attempting to comfort her. She pushed him off, scowling. She turned to scold him, but her face melted when she saw his miserable expression. "It's alright Professor. We can deal with this. You can fix the TARDIS. But right now, you have to do this. You owe it to your friend you made a deal with."

"Ace, I told you not to listen." He smiled sadly at her. "But, since when do you ever listen?" He stood up and went back into the TARDIS, leaving Ace alone to listen to the Dalek ship's whirring. When he exited, he had a large portion of her bike, a toolkit, a piece of Dalek armour and a small, complicated-looking device. He sat against the TARDIS and started working to rewire his items into one machine.

* * *

><p>After a few hours, which Ace had spent exploring the burnt remains of the TARDIS, she re-exited the TARDIS to see the Doctor still working on his machine. It mostly made of her bike, with the Dalek armour set onto a holder. There were joined by the unique device that connected two leads onto a wristband around the Doctor's arm. "Professor, what will it do?" He tuned her out, focusing on what he was about to do, and what it would mean. "Doctor?"<p>

He turned to her, responding to the sound of his voice. He spoke slowly and calmly, with determined precision. "It will lock onto all the traces of Dalekanium in the nearby space. It will atomise it. That will take out the majority of the Dalek fleet here. It has the most temporally active ships, the strongest war machines, all the experimental designs… It will effectively cripple the Daleks. And, since it's linked to the TARDIS, it fixes the event in time- basically meaning the Daleks can't ever go back and change it."

"Where does it get all the power for that?" Ace looked at him for a while, curious, but then worried. He hadn't answered for about 5 seconds, and that meant, since he usually couldn't help sharing his genius, that he didn't want to tell her.

"Simple, Ace. It comes from me."

He flicked a switch on his wrist band and screamed in pain. The band was burning his lifespan, taking his remaining years and turning them into destructive energy. The bike started to charge itself, but it was interrupted when the Doctor was wracked with a larger bout of pain than usual. He flinched massively, and the leads were pulled out of his wristband. He collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

Ace noticed what had happened, and knew that, even if they weren't supposed to be able to reach here, the Daleks would find out about a large amount of energy being gathered near their own engines. She didn't know what it would accomplish, but she grabbed the two cables in her right hand.

"Ace, no!"

She jolted in huge amounts of pain, the muscles that controlled her hand locking into position, making sure she wouldn't let go. She screamed as the bike began to gather more energy, destroying her remaining lifespan to get it.

"Ace! You have to let go!" The Doctor slowly, shakily, stood up and stumbled toward his companion. He fell over, but picked himself back up again. But it was too late.

Ace collapsed to the floor, shattered both in body and mind as the Doctor's device fed the energy through the bike's engine, which had been reconfigured as an atomic shredder by the Doctor. A pulse of energy blossomed from it, but it quickly grew and left the room they were in, leaving it untouched. The engines they could see out of the window, however, were not so lucky. The split apart into their base elements, as the pulse spread onwards, eating the armour that made up the skin of the Dalek saucer.

The Doctor didn't focus on any of that, though. He focused on his companion, lying in front of him, her life forfeit. He knew reached for her hand, and she took it, slowly focusing on his face with bleary eyes. "Professor, what happened?"

The Doctor tried to stifle a tear, but failed. "Ace… you burned up your life. You're dying. But, you're not. Look at yourself." Ace raised her head, supported by the Doctor's other hand, to look at her body. It was slowly turning transparent. "Professor…"

"Ace, it didn't just burn up your future time to blow up the Daleks. It destroyed your past as well. You erased yourself from time. I shouldn't have let you come! I shouldn't have let you do that…"

The Doctor started shouting to the room in general, but Ace just hit him with a fading hand. "Professor, shut up! It was my choice to come here, and it was my fault in the first place. I suggested you do this. Now tell me- how many people have I saved?" He couldn't meet her eyes… "How many?" she shouted, at the top of her lungs, which almost made her pass out.

"All of them, Ace. Everyone, ever." He hugged her, and this time, she did not object.

"Professor, just one last request, before I…" She didn't want to finish her sentence.

"Yes, Dorothy McShane, of Earth?" The Doctor said this quietly.

"Can I see the stars? One last time?" She looked into his eyes as she asked this, and smiled as softly as she could at him.

The Doctor didn't say anything else. He just helped her to her feet, so she could look out the window and see the vast expand of space in front of her, with the decaying remains of Dalek battleships floating in between them.

"Profess… Doctor, tell my mum what happened to me. Let her know." The Doctor remained silent as he held Ace there to watch the stars as she faded from existence.

He let out a final tear as he considered her last words. "Ace… she won't remember you. No-one will."

* * *

><p>He slumped to the floor, and it was then he took notice of his glowing hands. While he hadn't burned up enough of his life span to save Ace, he had used enough to wear out this body. He got to his feet, as he felt his whole body fill with a familiar feeling. This had happened to him seven times before, and it was about to happen again.<p>

He stumbled into his ruined TARDIS, where already the walls were slowly repairing themselves with the original white walls, where the ceiling was slowly being taken over too. He didn't mind. He was sick of this console room. He had let too many companions die, but not again. He wouldn't be close to anyone again. He wouldn't let anyone else he cared for die…

"This time, it will be different."

He set the TARDIS into motion, the column moving easier now that the shield had gone and it has significantly less mass. It slowly moved through the Time Vortex, not heading anywhere but somewhere else. Inside it, its sole occupant lied on the floor, glowing softly golden. His features changed, his face becoming different, every cell in his body being healed, rejuvenated, regenerated…

The new man stood up. He was still wearing the old man's clothes, still standing in the remains of his ship. But he was new. The Ninth. That was what mattered. He looked down at his singed clothes, at the console around him, and he smiled. It wasn't a smile of joy, or of sorrow, but simply a smile that, at last, he was here.

"Well, well, well. This should be interesting."

* * *

><p>Well, that was a long one. I hope you enjoy, and feedback really would be welcome. There will be a final chapter, but it'll be a surprise what happen! Untill next time, buy!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Lady President Romana of the Time Lords of Gallifrey readied her notes. She couldn't believe it- they had won! Granted, her sensible side reminded her, a huge cost had been paid, both in the universe and here, on Gallifrey. But the Daleks had been beaten. She thought back to what had happened a few months ago. The largest fleet of the Daleks, containing their greatest battleships, had been destroyed all at once. Not by the Time Lord armada that was there, on the request of her old friend, but by "unknown sources". Or, at least, officially, it was unknown sources. Unofficially, she knew that the Doctor had done something. He had blown them up. She hadn't expected it of him, but she was grateful. Everyone was safe.

Of course, the Daleks still existed. It was one thing to fight a species that was directly threatening them; it was against the High Laws of Time to interfere enough to drive them extinct. They were still around, but they would never rise to the same power. They could form an empire of a few planets, but that was it. She would make sure of it with her new proposal. It said that the Time Lords would be able to interfere with the universe if, and only if, the species presented a direct threat to them. It was in their best interests for this to pass. She took a drink of liquid from a cup her aide had brought in and thought about the one who had caused all this to be able to happen- The Doctor.

He hadn't been seen since the The Fleet Burning of The Last Great Time War (Time Lords were nothing if not melodramatic) as it was being called. She had monitored Gallifrey as well as she could-nothing. She hadn't though he would come back here, but it was just in case. She had also monitored his other planet- Earth. She had had to be subtle- they weren't technically allowed to interfere or even too closely monitor a foreign planet, but she had been able to go to Earth herself too scan for him. Granted, "Allowed to go" meant "she snuck out", but the principal still stood. He hadn't been anywhere in the universe since that day.

She staggered around her office. She knew she'd be feeling nervous, but she felt… ill. Horrible. Like her chest was full of stinging wasps. She fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. Something bad had happened to her.

She pressed the button on her desk to call for her aide. The young Time Lord walked in, looking for the President to find her lying on the floor, clutching her stomach, writhing in pain.

"My Lady, what has happened to you?"

"I don't know. I think I've been…" She looked up at him to see her aide smirking, like a snake looking at poisoned prey. "…Poisoned. You did this to me? Why!?" Realisation dawned on her, and she started to scream at him, both in pain and in anger.

"Simple. You can't go through with passing this bill. It would mean more and more interference, and I and other like-minded Time Lords don't like that. We prefer the old ways. So, I'm sorry, but you'll have to go. We'll make it seem like an accident."

"Who's we?" Romana spat at the man, slowly dying, trying to force a regeneration to burn the poison out of her system, but her body wasn't responding.

"My… accomplice, if you wan't to use the technical, criminal word."

"You are criminals!"

"No. We're revolutionaries." His smile grew wider as Romana start to look on in despair. She had to figure out a way to get out of this.

"Ah. Here we are." The man's accomplice walked in, dragging a cleaning trolley behind him. He was dressed in a long black cloak, with a hood over his face, covering it in shadow.

"Why don't you show your face to the President? Let her know who she's been beaten by?" He laughed at the man's strange dress.

"If she survives, I don't want her angry at me." The man spoke slowly, like he was trying to disguise his voice.

"She won't survive! I used Miramis poison- no regeneration, no chance of survival without help. She's going to die." The Time Lord spoke in surprise, as if he felt insulted.

"Without help being the main word there."

The cloaked figure shoved the young Time Lord to the ground with his trolley, pinning him aganst a wall by applying the brakes. He ran to the Time Lady writhing on the floor in pain. He pulled a small bottle out of a pocket on the inside of his cloak with one hand and grasped the President's mouth with the other. He emptied the contents of the bottle down the president's throat, and after a few seconds she stopped writhing. All three stopped breathing for several moments, two waiting to see what the last would do. What she did was expel a large quantity of yellow liquid from her mouth and yellow gas from her nose. Or, in other words, she threw up all the liquid in her stomach, and got rid of all the poison in her bloodstream through her lungs. She gasped for a few moments, and then turned on the two other Time Lords in her office.

She pressed a button on her console. "Chancellery Guard? We have an attempted murderer in here. I believe we need to put him on trial. Thank you."

She looked directly at the man pinned under the trolley. "You are going to pay for this. Very much."

She turned to look at the man in the cloak, who was starting to mess about with the door locks.

"What are you doing? You won't be able to stop the guards."

"They couldn't blast their way through a wooden door, Romana. Besides, I believe you've been looking for me." The figure was no longer disguising his voice, and it was low and sarcastic in tone. He dropped his coat to reveal a Victorian looking outfit, with a long waistcoat and cravat.

"Hello, Romanavotrelundar. I'm the Doctor, in case you didn't recognise me. Now-"

Romana slapped him.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

"Why didn't you come back? Why didn't you tell me what happened? What happened to your friend? What-?"

"Don't ask me that. I don't want to talk about it."

"She's dead, isn't she? Of course she is."

"Yes." He was wearing an emotionless face.

"Don't you care about all the others that are dead? Many, many Time Lords died in that battle, that diversion you created so that you could have your moment!" Romana was shouting at him now, angry at his lack of care for his race.

"Without me, you wouldn't have been able to get that close to the Daleks. I'm allowed to mourn who I want. I don't care about some random Time Lords." Hs face or expression remained unchanging.

"Your own son was in that battle! He was the first one to die! He didn't even know we would win in the end!"

His expression flickered slightly, but he stared straight at Romana. "They knew they might have to give their lives. Ace didn't. Besides…" He started walking towards the back wall of her office. "I'm not here for long. Just to say this." He flicked a hidden switch, and the wall swung open, revealing a blue police box. "One: there's a secret compartment here that was installed in the old days as a secret way on and off the planet. Please don't change it- I need one way to sneak back here. Two: Don't go looking for me. I don't want to be found."

He stepped into the TARDIS, and the door shut on him. The secret door slided across his entrance just as the TARDIS started to fade away. The guards smashed through the door into Romana's office. "Madam. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She stood there staring at the secret compartment in the wall before she shook her head clear. "Arrest this man." She pointed towards her (now former) aide, who was still crushed under the trolley.

"Yes Madam. Anything else?"

"…No"

* * *

><p>The old TARDIS flew through the time vortex away from Gallifrey, piloted by a renegade Time Lord, not on the run from his people, but still finding himself an outcast. He looked for a nice place to land, but couldn't find anywhere. Most places would be better than the burnt planetoid where he had crashed just after his regeneration, but that had been fun.<p>

"The prison break had been exciting. Shame about the penguin."

He flipped a few more switches, before finally deciding on a place to go. "Yes… that's nice."

He readies himself, then moved a final lever.

* * *

><p>Well, here he is. The Rowan Atkinson Doctor. The Curse of Fatal Death Doctor. The Ninth Doctor. Hope you enjoyed this (and him), and I'll be writing a new story for him (hopefully) some time soon.<p> 


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